Indian Economy: News and Discussion (Apr 1 2011)

Ambar · Post by **Ambar** » 21 Aug 2011 10:53

Few recent headlines that caught my eyes suggests Indian economy may face some short term turbulence :

a) SBI's stunning drop in profit by 99+% due to higher interest rates but more worrying loan losses.
b) NASSCOM's statement that there has been a 21% drop in new tech projects of 25m$ or more.
c) Margin compression in Indian IT companies due to wage inflation and higher taxes. HCL's quarterly result was terrible.
d) NPAs of PSU have reached an astounding 80000 cr Rs! or ~20 billion $ and have indicated there is more to come.
e) Govt is in no mood to tackle deficit or the total debt.
f) Slump in auto sales for the month of July, and a lackluster sales so far this month.
g) A look at our yield curve of our gilts makes me scratch my head! We continue to flatten further, and curve could topple if there is another rate hike.
h) Except for arbitragers, the short term,mid-term and long term rates are all converging making it more attractive to be in short term bonds than long term bonds/equities.
g) The FII cumulative investment in both debt and equity instruments are the worst that i've seen since 2008 crisis. This should further erode stock prices where both indices are 22% lower than their post crisis highs.

The future,atleast the near term future may not be all that "shining" for Indian economy.

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 21 Aug 2011 11:07

Plus add the political risk imposed by the Anna campaign. Since quite a bit of the growth seems to have been as a result of corrupt practices, there will be a slowdown as business learns to deal with new anti-corruption procedures.

uddu · Post by **uddu** » 21 Aug 2011 19:22

A lot of business even did not start due to corruption. Corruption only delays business.

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 21 Aug 2011 21:00

All I am saying is that big players like Reliance and the 2G companies will have to take a number in the line, where they had free rein previously. Smaller players may be hurt by corruption, but their impact on growth would be correspondingly small until they scale up. The situation would be kinda like the few years after 1991 as everyone adapted to competition. Good in the long run, but tough in the short.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 21 Aug 2011 21:59

FDI to rise sharply to $19.5 bn in FY12: CMIE.

The net foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow in India is expected to improve sharply to $19.5 billion during FY12 as compared to $7.1 billion in FY11 on account of robust and sustainable economy, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said in its monthly review.

As per the review, FDI inflows during the first two months of FY12 were much higher at $7.4 billion compared to $3.6 billion during the corresponding period of FY11.

Since higher FDI inflows are more than made up for the lower FII inflows, total foreign investments during April-May 2011 were much higher at $9.7 billion compared to $7.8 billion during April-May 2010.

“We maintain that FDI inflows into India will continue to be robust as the Indian economy will continue to remain amongst the fastest growing economies of the world. We also expect FII inflows into the Indian equity markets to continue in the coming months for the same reasons,” CMIE said.

The economic growth in India is also sustainable and driven by the domestic demand. The high inflation and supply shortages driving it is an indication of a strong underlying private consumption demand in the country. Overseas investors are likely to be keen on capitalizing on it, it said.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 22 Aug 2011 08:09

Joseph Stiglitz reviews "The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth"

x-post

Klaus · Post by **Klaus** » 22 Aug 2011 10:01

Gurus, what is the Indian psyche towards pink gold? It is evident to the mango person on the street that it is significantly alloyed and has less resale value (~50%). So why would Indians want to purchase it, considering that there are quite a few other options for decorative jewellery? Would influential lobbies create a market environment where the gullible trade with their gold items to have it converted to an item of their choice in pink gold, hiding a scam under the fine print?

Another question is that why is pink gold making a resurgence at this time of shooting high gold prices? Is this part of a plan by influential international lobbies who wish to scuttle India's gold culture with what is essentially an imitation? One has heard of fool's gold, I wonder if the pink gold movement could be labeled a "half-truth gold movement"!

Arjun · Post by **Arjun** » 22 Aug 2011 10:01

Manmohan Singh's role in India's economic ruination

A look back at the 80s and the role of the supposed 'economic messiah' in the socialist planning model then prevalent.

wig · Post by **wig** » 22 Aug 2011 10:16

Aerospace park in TN on cards

Aiming to put Tamil Nadu on the global aerospace map, the government is going full throttle to set up an aerospace park to manufacture and assemble aircraft with state-owned Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) currently in the process of identifying land.

Official sources said the TIDCO was scouting for land for an MRO (Maintenance, Repair, Operations) facility near the Chennai airport and has requested SIPCOT (State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu) to allot 100 acres in suburban Sriperumbudur.

This is mainly for setting up of aircraft-component manufacturing park.

Larsen and Toubro-Ramboll has been appointed consultant to carry out the feasibility study and marketing assistance.

The project is being set up on 3,000 acres in Perambalur special economic zone, where an integrated aerospace park would come up with the focus on manufacturing and assembling aircraft, the recently tabled policy note in the Assembly said.

“Creating an aerospace park which can support manufacturing and assembling of an aircraft is the ultimate objective of this programme,” it said.

On setting up of the first Financial City, media and entertainment park near Chennai, Industries Minister SP Velumani said 187 acres had been identified at Sholinganallur and Perumbakkam villages near the “IT Corridor”. Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) has been appointed as consultants for preparing a comprehensive development plan.

Tenders for selection of a developer or a joint venture partner to develop the first phase of Financial City on 25 acres would also be floated, the policy note said.

The government has also allotted 7,900 acres for SIPCOT for allotment to industries.

“..land acquisition is in progress. Accordingly 1,179 acres (in Tuticorin), Cheyyar (Vallam-Vadagal) 1,780 acres, expansion of Oragadam 616 acres, Madurai Industrial park 1,478 acres and a new industrial park at Villupuram district at 720 acres have been sanctioned,” it said.

The SIPCOT would thus be able to allot them to industries whenever required.

The SIPCOT has also allotted 100 acres to set up separate country-specific industrial clusters for investors from Japan, Korea, Finland, Germany and France to attract more foreign investments.

“Under this proposal, acquisition of land in Sriperumbudur is in progress,” it said

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110822/nation.htm

hshukla · Post by **hshukla** » 22 Aug 2011 18:56

commodity prices dont seem to be coming down....Oil is still USD107. Read somewhere that US Fed's statement that for some "foreseeable" future there will be low interest regime gave a shot in the arm to commodity speculators.
Can some of the gurus shed more light on this??

Ambar · Post by **Ambar** » 22 Aug 2011 21:35

Oil is trading at 82.09$/barrel right now. Short term interest rates have been near zero since late 2008, as economy weakens,dollar strengthens and commodities starts to fall,that's what is happening right now.

saip · Post by **saip** » 22 Aug 2011 22:11

When you talk of oil prices you got to be more specific. In USA I believe it refers to Texas Crude which is at $82.68 and in UK I believe it is Brent Crude which is now trading at $107.21

Generally there is $20 difference between these two. But sometime it is much less like $5. I think it happened in April. When the west texas crude was at $110 the price of gallon (US) of gas was around $4 now that the crude price has come down by something like 30% I was expecting the gas prices to drop too but right now it is just 15% less at $3.50. You never win.

Ambar · Post by **Ambar** » 22 Aug 2011 22:14

you are right. I was talking about the CME prices and not the London IPE.

devaraj_d · Post by **devaraj_d** » 23 Aug 2011 00:14

Theo_Fidel wrote:I told you those riff raff 500,000+ private college engineers were good for something.

Pardon my ignorance. What is the relationship between the number of graduating engineers to the exports? AFAIK small industries such as my Dad's are facing shortage of skilled labour as these guys have moved to unskilled jobs in the construction industry. There was always a sufficient supply of engineers.

kumarn · Post by **kumarn** » 23 Aug 2011 01:33

Government mulls $10-bn sovereign wealth fund

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 23 Aug 2011 02:23

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-2 ... emand.html
Indian Gold Imports May Reach Record 1,000 Tons as Investment Demand Rises

Gold imports by India, the world’s biggest consumer, may reach a record this year as investors seek a haven against inflation and volatility in stock markets, a traders’ group said.
Imports may be between 950 metric tons and 1,000 tons this year, Prithviraj Kothari, president of the Bombay Bullion Association, told reporters at a gold conference in Kovalam in south India. Consumption in India rose to a record 963.1 tons last year, driving bullion imports to the highest ever at 958 tons, according to the World Gold Council. Rising Indian imports may help extend a 30 percent rally in gold prices to a record that’s made the precious metal the second-best performer on the Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials this year. Bullion is heading for its 11th annual gain as Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis and concern that the U.S. economy may be slowing spur demand for a haven. “The equity market is volatile and property prices are too high, driving people toward gold as an investment,” Kothari said. “The rains have been good so far, so we can expect good demand for festival season this year.” Purchases by India, the world’s biggest user, surged 60 percent to 267 tons in the three months ended June 30, from 167 tons a year earlier, the producer-funded council said on Aug. 18. Investment demand jumped 78 percent to 108.5 tons, the second-highest quarter on record, it said.

( sone ka tiger not chiriya)

VikramS · Post by **VikramS** » 23 Aug 2011 06:16

Guys: Brent and WTI traded close to each other until recently. There is a lot of supply coming from Canada which due to lack of pipelines is restricted to one or two delivery centers. That has suppressed prices there, and kept the price of WTI low. On the other hand, the price of Brent is factoring in all the uncertainty in the Mid-East region. For most of the world it is Brent which matters not WTI.

Ambar · Post by **Ambar** » 23 Aug 2011 16:44

gakakkad wrote:^^^ I heard that rising wages in IT-BPO (higher end stuff) were more due to skill shortage. Inflation was a contributor but less so. Unkil is printing dollars so we can expect inflation to rise in unkil land soon enough . That should be interesting to say the least. Anyway in 2008 as far as BPO is concerned Revenue was about 11 billion . Out of this IT accounted for 43%. So only a fraction of 90 billion software exports of India can be due to BPO. That is my understanding. Correct me if I am wrong. What is the composition of various segments in the 90Billion software exports?

The Feds QE being the sole reason of India's inflation problem is a myth! Our rising deficits sops the excess capital inflows.This year FIIs have been netsellers by a huge margin in both equities and gilts.Even when hot money flows in, it usually finds a place in our stock market and more recently short term bonds.Indian inflation problems has variety of reasons primarily arising from bottlenecks at the supply side.According to NASSCOM,there are 4 million who are directly employed in IT/ITES sectors in India. India churns out around 550000 engineers a year, if even half of them head towards IT/ITES, in a sector that is creating around 170 thousand jobs/yr in a good year, it still gets a 'fresh' input of 270 thousand applicants to choose from! This does not even count those who are already in the sector and looking to switch companies. There could be a genuine shortage of skills in R&D divisions (again led by product oriented foreign companies), but the majority of employment is not in engineering R&D in India. As for ITES,it is not necessarily a technology based outsourcing of services, but could be financial,healthcare,products or marketing support. I'm not picking one over the other, IT/ITES sectors that depend heavily on foreign clients/companies to generate employment will suffer if we lose price advantage. What difference does it make what segments make up the 90 billion$ in s/w exports ? Again,although i have several short term concerns about the state of our economy that i've mentioned in my earlier post in this thread, my response is mostly about wage inflation impacting outsourcing.

gakakkad · Post by **gakakkad** » 23 Aug 2011 16:59

^^^ There is something I am curious about. What do civil / mechanical engineers do in IT companies? I have even heard that they hire biomedical engineers there. I mean how on earth do these people program anything.

10-12 year ago when I was a school kid , I went to NIIT to learn c/c++ , networking etc. I used to find that several B.Com people joining these courses with the hope of getting gainful employment. Industry sponsored gimmick certifications like MCSE etc were rampant in those days. A guy who could barely switch on a computer enrolled himself for a "Java" course with the magical thinking that it would help him get some sort of a job. Most of them were good for nothing crap. I mean getting them understand even basic concepts like loops, arrays ,objects etc was a headache. Are these people still around in the Indian IT industry? What is their role? What about BCA/MCA grads? In those days they just seemed to be MS office operators. Do people still give a damn to "industry certification".

csaurabh · Post by **csaurabh** » 23 Aug 2011 17:09

gakakkad wrote:^^^ There is something I am curious about. What do civil / mechanical engineers do in IT companies? I have even heard that they hire biomedical engineers there. I mean how on earth do these people program anything.

10-12 year ago when I was a school kid , I went to NIIT to learn c/c++ , networking etc. I used to find that several B.Com people joining these courses with the hope of getting gainful employment. Industry sponsored gimmick certifications like MCSE etc were rampant in those days. A guy who could barely switch on a computer enrolled himself for a "Java" course with the magical thinking that it would help him get some sort of a job. Most of them were good for nothing crap. I mean getting them understand even basic concepts like loops, arrays ,objects etc was a headache. Are these people still around in the Indian IT industry? What is their role? What about BCA/MCA grads? In those days they just seemed to be MS office operators. Do people still give a damn to "industry certification".

There are plenty of crap 'IT jobs' for these no-gooders. Eg. data entry, 'testing' , customer support, HR . Not everyone programs.
Another thing I learned in the IT industry is that it has absolutely zero relation with 'computer science' that is taught in colleges such as IIT. All you need is intelligence and quick learning and you can do the job with 12th pass.

Jaspreet · Post by **Jaspreet** » 23 Aug 2011 18:29

Another thing I learned in the IT industry is that it has absolutely zero relation with 'computer science' that is taught in colleges such as IIT

If you end up in an application dev environment then you're right. If all you're doing is writing a report, or a SQL query, or reading data from UI and adding it to the database then data structures & compiler construction courses are of little use.

But if you're developing a compiler module, a framework, graphics software, virtualization or backup/recovery software or something similar then you breathe algorithms, performance, nanoseconds, caches, etc. day in and day out. It is then that the grounding that you had in Comp. Sc. courses comes in useful.

merlin · Post by **merlin** » 23 Aug 2011 18:38

You may be surprised to learn that application development also needs performance, caches, etc.

Jaspreet · Post by **Jaspreet** » 23 Aug 2011 18:48

You may be surprised to learn that application development also needs performance, caches, etc.

Are we talking caches like L2 cache or some Sql Server cache?

In any case, the point was that what is taught in Comp. Sc. courses is relevant in some circumstances and not in others as contrasted with csaurabh's absolute statement that it is no good.

If you need to be proficient in such matters in application development arena then you're only proving my point by ironically refuting my argument.

saip · Post by **saip** » 23 Aug 2011 19:18

gakakkad wrote:^^^ There is something I am curious about. What do civil / mechanical engineers do in IT companies? I have even heard that they hire biomedical engineers there. I mean how on earth do these people program anything.

10-12 year ago when I was a school kid , I went to NIIT to learn c/c++ , networking etc. I used to find that several B.Com people joining these courses with the hope of getting gainful employment. Industry sponsored gimmick certifications like MCSE etc were rampant in those days. A guy who could barely switch on a computer enrolled himself for a "Java" course with the magical thinking that it would help him get some sort of a job. Most of them were good for nothing crap. I mean getting them understand even basic concepts like loops, arrays ,objects etc was a headache. Are these people still around in the Indian IT industry? What is their role? What about BCA/MCA grads? In those days they just seemed to be MS office operators. Do people still give a damn to "industry certification".

It could be change of career? I was an attorney to begin with (Ministry of Law, India) but when I came here I became a Network Admin.

ArmenT · Post by **ArmenT** » 23 Aug 2011 19:33

Oddly enough, most of the really good IT guys in the company I work for are mainly self-taught programmers and have degrees in subjects other than CS! We have guys with degrees in physics, linguistics, mechanical engineering, psychology, music, couple of high school grads etc. They all drifted towards IT because they found that messing with computers was fun and taught themselves advanced stuff such as network administration, compiler construction and OS kernel hacking on their own time. Most of the CS grads we have are doing front end work because they really aren't good when it comes to coding for performance, or complicated coding for that matter. The only exceptions are one Chinese (masters in CS) and one Brit (BS in CS) who both work in my team.

In the C programming front, the depressing thing is that a lot of colleges in India still teach using Turbo C 1.0 as the standard compiler

. Worse, a significant part of the syllabus is doing stupid tricks such as:
i = 7;
i = i++ + ++i ;
and asking what the value of i should be (Actual correct answer: the answer will vary depending on the compiler you are using, because the C standard says that the result is undefined. Therefore different compilers can evaluate this expression in different ways and all their answers are fine as the standard doesn't define which is the correct way. Interested people should google for "sequence points" for why this is so). And it is near impossible to tell the student that he/she is using non-standard and outdated compilers, because all they're interested in is getting that degree piece of paper any old way.

gakakkad · Post by **gakakkad** » 23 Aug 2011 19:50

It could be change of career? I was an attorney to begin with (Ministry of Law, India) but when I came here I became a Network Admin.

In huge number of cases in India that is not the case. I mean IT companies hiring civil engineers right on campus. I have got friends who were hired on campus. When I ask them about their job profile they tend to be evasive

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 23 Aug 2011 20:01

http://www.mafoirandstad.com/our-servic ... /mets.html

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 23 Aug 2011 22:22

Will not join rich men's OECD for now: India.

India has decided against becoming a member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for now, but it is talking to the Paris-based body for expanding sectoral engagement. At present, India is only a member of various committees of the 34-member organisation.

The 50-year international organisation, which provides a forum to governments across the world to work together and stimulate economic progress and global trade, mainly comprises developed nations. India, being an emerging country, feels it may not fit well into the “rich men’s club”. It is also cautious about the signal it might send to other emerging countries in the South Asian region.

“OECD,” said a finance ministry official, “is keen on getting India as a member, but right now we are just examining a more enhanced engagement with it, in consultation with line departments. There is a need to get more information on our strategic collaboration. We have to see how useful it is for us.”

OECD, representing more than 60 per cent of the world output, is inviting emerging nations such as India and Russia to become a member of it ,so that it does not lose relevance. It has also offered enhanced engagement to Brazil, China, Indonesia and South Africa. A few developing nations like Chile, Hungary and Mexico became its members in 2010, 1996 and 1994, respectively.

Another official said OECD is a multi-faceted humongous organisation and if India decided to join it as a member, it would have to make certain commitments. A country needs a good amount of human resources to become a member of OECD. The organisation has several areas, committees, documents rules, procedures which a member country has to sign up, he explained.

OECD also has a criterion for giving membership, which has been relaxed a few times on earlier occasions to include some emerging nations. For instance, India’s per capita income is lower than the OECD limit for its members, but the organisation has eased this criterion before for some other members.

The official, however, clarified that OECD was “very accommodative” and would be willing to relax the criteria for joining it as a member. It was for India to decide the level of engagement and terms, he added.

Currently, India collaborates with OECD on about 30 committees in areas such as taxation, transport research, chemical, pesticides, biotechnology, consumer policy, statistics, fiscal policy, steel and private pension. The new areas of collaboration may include fiscal networks where countries can exchange policies on fiscal management.

Recently, OECD and India decided to enhance cooperation in dealing with issues relating to transfer pricing and promote better tax compliance and measures to improve the prevention and regulation of cross-border dispute. India has been actively involved in the OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs and its working parties since 2006. It plays a lead role in the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, and is an active member of the OECD’s multi-stakeholder Task Force on Tax and Development. India recently became a full member of the OECD Network on Fiscal Relations Across Levels of Government.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Aug 2011 00:01

i = 7;
i = i++ + ++i ;

managers love mugging up such questions (and answers) from books or web and asking them in interviews to feel smart.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 24 Aug 2011 04:57

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 67550.html
India Monsoon Above Normal

NEW DELHI -- India's monsoon rains were above normal for the second straight week in August, narrowing a seasonal deficit and putting the country back on track to achieving its target of an all-time high food grains output.
The seasonal rainfall in the week to Aug. 17 was 78.7 millimeters, 26% more than the 50-year average of 62.3 mm, according to data from the India Meteorological Department Thursday

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 24 Aug 2011 08:37

The Outsourcing Bogeyman: Jagdish Bhagwati

Virupaksha · Post by **Virupaksha** » 24 Aug 2011 09:36

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110824/j ... 414609.jsp

Manipur has been facing a severe shortage of all commodities, including petrol and diesel, after two separate blockades were enforced along Manipur’s three supply lines by the Sadar Hills District Demand Committee and United Naga Council.

While one has been demanding that the Sadar Hills subdivision in Senapati be upgraded to a district, the Nagas living in the hill districts are against the move.

Another success story of the Congress. Read the story to puke on the chamcha journalism by telegraph.

Sri · Post by **Sri** » 24 Aug 2011 11:10

Singha wrote:i = 7;
i = i++ + ++i ;

managers love mugging up such questions (and answers) from books or web and asking them in interviews to feel smart.

He he I am guilty of the above

... My fav. In a series of n numbers, calculate the second highest... You won't believe the scope of answers I get.....

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 24 Aug 2011 21:55

http://www.pharmalot.com/2011/08/takeda ... drugmaker/
Takeda Wants To Buy A Big Indian Drugmaker

In a bid to broaden its global reach, Takeda Pharmaceuticals is holding talks with two of India’s biggest drugmakers - Cipla and Lupin - both of which are large providers of generic meds, according to reports. The move underscores the ongoing desire among brand-name drugmakers to gain market share in the large Indian market as well as expand their product portfolios.Takeda, which earlier this year bought Nycomed for $13.6 billion, is talking to Lupin about buying its domestic formulations business and research facility, according to The Economic Times, although Lupin apparently wants a price that would amount to 17 times revenue, which last year reached $1.5 billion. The Japanese drugmaker has also approached Cipla, but talks were described as preliminary.
A Cipla spokeswoman denied any deal is under way. “We are not in talks with anyone either to sell our company or any of its brands,” she tells the paper. And a Lupin spokesperson declined to comment on “baseless market speculation.” Takeda did not respond to a request by the paper for comment.The overture comes at a delicate moment for the Indian government, where some officials are concerned that the domestic pharmaceutical industry is being gobbled up by foreign drugmakers and that needed medicines for the poorest citizens may be priced out of their reach. Toward that end, a proposal was floated to cap foreign investment in domestic drugmakers (see this).
Expanding into India, of course, makes sense. The domestic market is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world and, as the paper notes, McKinsey consultants expects growth to reach $55 billion by 2020 from about $12 billion currently. Last year, Abbott Laboratories paid $3.7 billion for the Piramal Healthcare domestic drug formulation business. And Takeda needs to play catch up with its rival, Daiichi Sankyo, which paid $3.6 billion for the troubled Ranbaxy Laboratories.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 24 Aug 2011 21:57

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/ ... CO20110824
Sanofi arm to buy OTC biz of India's Universal Medicare

)

- Aventis Pharma (AVPH.NS), a unit of France's Sanofi (SASY.PA), said on Wednesday that it will acquire unlisted Universal Medicare's nutraceuticals business to boost its consumer healthcare and wellness segment in India.Shares of Aventis Pharma rose over 7 percent early on Wednesday.The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2011 and involves transfer of about 750 employees of Universal to Aventis Pharma, the latter said in a statement.Reuters had reported on Tuesday, Aventis was close to buying the over-the-counter business of Universal Medicare for about 5 billion rupees ($109.5 million).

tejas · Post by **tejas** » 25 Aug 2011 21:42

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asi ... story.html

Glass half empty vs half full article on woes of Indian infrastructure.

abhischekcc · Post by **abhischekcc** » 25 Aug 2011 23:10

ArmenT wrote:Oddly enough, most of the really good IT guys in the company I work for are mainly self-taught programmers and have degrees in subjects other than CS! We have guys with degrees in physics, linguistics, mechanical engineering, psychology, music, couple of high school grads etc. They all drifted towards IT because they found that messing with computers was fun and taught themselves advanced stuff such as network administration, compiler construction and OS kernel hacking on their own time. Most of the CS grads we have are doing front end work because they really aren't good when it comes to coding for performance, or complicated coding for that matter. The only exceptions are one Chinese (masters in CS) and one Brit (BS in CS) who both work in my team.

Interestingly, the best financial correspondent in Reuters when I was there was actually a lawyer, not a Mass-com or journalist person. I guess most people realize their passion much later after getting educated.

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 25 Aug 2011 23:14

ArmenT wrote:Oddly enough, most of the really good IT guys in the company I work for are mainly self-taught programmers and have degrees in subjects other than CS! We have guys with degrees in physics, linguistics, mechanical engineering, psychology, music, couple of high school grads etc. They all drifted towards IT because they found that messing with computers was fun and taught themselves advanced stuff such as network administration, compiler construction and OS kernel hacking on their own time. Most of the CS grads we have are doing front end work because they really aren't good when it comes to coding for performance, or complicated coding for that matter. The only exceptions are one Chinese (masters in CS) and one Brit (BS in CS) who both work in my team.

In our aphice we have a Infra Architect who actually has a law degree and a Tech Advisor with a film making degree. Both almost irreplaceable.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Aug 2011 08:05

you cannot get such guys in a predictable pipeline in bulk though. and thats why bulk of positions will continue to be filled by people with formal degrees.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 30 Aug 2011 07:31

Merchandise exports for April-July'11 adds up to $108.2 billion. Current fiscal year target is $300B.